Abstract: For producing metallic bar stock there is first of all fabricated a primary product of substantially regularly round or angular cross-section, and this primary product is then deformed in cross-section to the final dimension corresponding to the bar stock by means of shaping. To provide for an efficient production of high-quality bar stock also in a minor quantity, the completely solidified primary product is subjected to a forging operation for a structural improvement before shaping it to the final dimension, during which forging off in one processing plane a spreading-restricted reduction of the cross-section in the range from (1.5 to 5):1 is effected.

Abstract: In a sheet cutting machine in which a guidance system moves a blade across a work surface, the blade height is adjusted in accordance with stored data of irregularities of the guidance system and work surface relative to each other. The machine is also operable in a mapping mode in which the blade is replaced by a sensor which is scanned over the work surface, and the sensor output data is stored in the memory.